Newsweek calls Southwest High School the best in Minnesota

Never mind the crowded classrooms, the ancient facilities and the general lack of college campus-like opulence compared to its palatial suburban rivals: Southwest High School in Minneapolis is the best high school in Minnesota, according to Newsweek. Take that, cake eaters!

The very best in the nation? That would be Talented and Gifted High School, in Dallas, Texas.

Here's how Newsweek figured out its rankings:

We take the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge (AICE) tests given at a school each year and divide by the number of seniors graduating in May or June. All public schools NEWSWEEK researcher Amy Novak and I could find that achieved a ratio of at least 1.000, meaning they had as many tests in 2009 as they had graduates, were put on the list on the NEWSWEEK Web site. Each list is based on the previous year's data, so the 2010 list has each school's numbers for 2009.